Hold on to that fuzzy holiday feeling

& re-ignite your wedding planning for the new year

Don’t you just love the end-of-year holidays? All those twinkling lights, Christmas decorations everywhere (at least where I live), fireworks, people generally being nicer and happier, the time you get to spend with the people you love most,…

I personally love this time of year!

And then January hits, and you’re not sure what happened to all this joy and light. As a teenager, thanks to the fixed holidays and the exam period right before, I felt more like I was living towards the end of year and the start of summer.

When you start working though, your yearly holiday count goes from 60 days (in Belgium) to… I don’t know… 20 maybe? Definitely not enough to continue that yearly schedule from high school! And, in my case, I stopped realizing a new year had started. I stopped living towards that end-of-year holiday.

Wouldn’t it be nice to hold on to that Christmas feeling a little longer though?

Especially as you are planning your wedding, you are busy creating a beautiful day for you, your partner, and the people you care about. Isn’t that what the end-of-year holidays are all about?

Exactly!

So how can you channel the holiday feeling to re-ignite your wedding planning?

Lights, hot coco & just the two of you

If you took a break from planning, or maybe even when you’re just getting started and you’re a little worried about not knowing the next steps yet, you might just need the right motivation to dive back in.

So, schedule an evening with just the two of you, dim the lights, light some candles, grab a hot coco or some tea, and start with the very first step. Memorize your day, regardless of which appointments are ready, who’s getting an invitation, and all those other countless details, just remember that general feeling you have when you think about your wedding day and dream aloud of what that day would look like for the both of you.

Only when you’re entirely relaxed and ready to see the checklist, you can go grab it. If the night feels too precious to think about deadlines and appointments though, leave it for the next day and just focus on being together this evening.

Family & laughter

Family is incredibly important to me, so they are an unnegotiable part of my future wedding. To me, there are two types of family though, the family you were born into and the family you have chosen along the way.

I am lucky enough to have been born into an incredibly supportive and generous family, but I also believe people come along your path who can become as meaningful, or more, than your blood relatives.

The end-of-year holidays are always one of my favorites because I get to surround myself with the people I love most in my life. I hope from the bottom of my heart that that’s the same for you!

When I think about Christmas, I think about laughter, being cherished, feeling safe, and being surrounded by those who only wish the best for me.

That is the feeling I want you to have on your wedding day, as well as the feeling I want you to create for your wedding guests!

If you are thinking about decorations, things to include on your wedding day, your ceremony, and all those other details, make sure to channel those feelings of being cherished and loved. They will lift your entire day to a whole new level, simply by focusing on creating such a lovely experience for everyone present.

Holiday food

Holidays wouldn’t be holidays if there wasn’t any good food, right? Or maybe that’s our Burgundian-inspired culture speaking :)

To be fairly honest, no one will remember what you served on your wedding day (unless you have very posh or plain crazy relatives who care about that sort of stuff), all people will remember is if the food was well prepared and if it had good flavors.

I know that it’s hard to find catering companies who offer ‘regular’ food, but remember that the company you keep is so much more important than whatever food you get so don’t make it too fancy and make sure that the quality and quantity are perfect instead. Also, pick food you actually like eating yourselves! It won’t help anyone if you starve on your own wedding day.

Curate your guest list

Now is also the perfect time to take a look at your guest list and scratch out any name you don’t feel comfortable inviting.

As you are still tuned into that holiday feeling, let that guide you to help you cut down your guest list. Go over your list and gut check if scratching that name would change your wedding day for the worse. If you don’t get all fuzzy and warm inside when you think about having them on your big day, throw them off!

Of course, sometimes it’s hard when you have a big family and you want to invite only half of them. That’s not really an easy decision. Usually, it’s best to invite per circle. For example, inviting your parents and grandparents only. Or inviting all the way up to your cousins but no further.

Trust me, I know what it’s like to have a huge family and to secretly dream of a small and intimate wedding. Sometimes, you have to prioritize :)

P.S.: you only need to cut down your guest list if you want to give more value to the guests who will be present on the actual day. If you budget is high enough that you can reach that value no matter who’s on your list, by all means keep it!

If you’ve made it all the way down, I hope you are still feeling relaxed after the holidays but also ready to start planning your wedding in the new year!

Have any favorite holiday traditions? Let me know in the comments below